1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air purifying apparatus having the appearance of a side table.
2. Description of Related Art
Many types of air purifying devices are known. Most commonly, air purifying devices are simple units containing a fan which forces air through a filter. Such units are cumbersome and have no other utilitarian or decorative function. Moreover, many such units are designed for specific commercial and industrial uses and are not suitable for home or office use such as the devices described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,911,191 to Bain, U.S. Pat. No. 4,838,910 to Stollenwerk et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,623,367 to Paulson, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,092,136 to Zimbardi.
Some improvements have been made to air purifying units in an attempt to make them either ornamental or to give them a dual function. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,732,591 to Tujisawa, et al. describes an air cleaning apparatus presenting the appearance of a flower pot. The purpose of the device described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,732,591 is to provide an air cleaning device that is ornamental so that it may harmoniously blend with the decor of the room in which it is placed.
Other devices, such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,119,419 to Passaro et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,807,148 to Fike et al., and Japanese Pat. No. 89-190475/26 to Matsushita Electric Ind., provide the dual function of serving as an ashtray as well as an air cleaning device. Those devices are small in size and are limited to filtering the air in the space adjacent the ashtray portion of the devices. Thus, there is a need for an air filtering apparatus for use in the home or office capable of filtering larger quantities of air than ash tray type air cleaners and also capable of serving other functional and aesthetic uses.